Cooking broccoli

Add trimmed florets - about the size of Marilu Henner's earrings below - to boiling salted water and boil for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how well cooked you prefer your broccoli.

Broccoli

Broccoli is a plant of the Cabbage family, Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). It is classified as the Italica Cultivar Group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli possesses abundant fleshy flower heads, usually green in colour, arranged in a treelike fashion on branches sprouting from a thick, edible stalk. The large mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli most closely resembles cauliflower, which is a different cultivar group of the same species, but broccoli is green rather than white. In the United States, the term refers exclusively to the form with a single large head. This form is sometimes called "Calabrese" in the United Kingdom, where sprouting types that do not develop heads and those with underdeveloped flower buds are also sold as broccoli.

A small head of broccoli (as pictured) weighs about 225 g (8 oz), trimmed and cooked it will serve 2 people as an accompaniment to a meal with other vegetables such as potatoes.

Eating broccoli may slow the onset of arthritis

In many forms of arthritis, pain and disability is caused when the cartilage wears away causing two opposing bones in a joint to erode each other.

Results from lab studies on rats held by a team from The University of East Anglia showed that the compound glucoraphanin found in broccoli, sprouts and cabbage can protect cartilage from damage. The body converts glucoraphanin into sulforaphane which in turn appears to block an enzyme which damages cartilage.

In the forthcoming study patients due to undergo arthritic knee surgery will be fed 100 g of a "super broccoli" a day for two weeks and samples taken during the operation will be checked to see if the benefits seen in the animal lab studies are also seen in humans.

Dr Rose Davidson, lead researcher in the team said "I can't imagine it would repair arthritis but it might be a way to prevent it".

The "super broccoli" Beneforte, is a crossbreed between normal broccoli and a wild Sicilian variant is rich in glucoraphanin developed in a publicly funded venture between the UK's Institute of Food Research and the John Innes Centre.

Seasonal Information: Broccoli

This information is specifically for countries in the northern temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere; particularly the United Kingdom, however it should be applicable for northern USA, northern Europe, Canada, Russia, etc.

Broccoli is at its best and in season during the following months:
April, May, June, July, August, September & October.

Seasonal Information: Purple sprouting broccoli
This information is specifically for countries in the northern temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere; particularly the United Kingdom, however it should be applicable for northern USA, northern Europe, Canada, Russia, etc.

Purple sprouting broccoli is at its best and in season during the following months: February & March.

See also

5 a day; fruit and vegetable portion sizes

We have recently started to take delivery of a weekly organic fruit and vegetable box which has of course heightened our interest in the 5 a day fruit and vegetable regime. This simple app will show you what makes up one of your 5 a day portions of vegetables. You'll be surprised how small the quantities are in some instances. You'll be able to eat healthier and feel all the better for it.

Select a fruit or vegetable from the picker below to see what its daily portion consists of